Sudan blasts US sanctions renewal as “illogical”

KHARTOUM, Oct 30 (AFP) — The Sudanese government Thursday denounced as “illogical and impractical” a year-long extension of unilateral US sanctions imposed on Sudan since 1997.

Foreign Under Secretary Mutref Siddeiq told reporters that Khartoum considered the renewal “illogical and impractical” because it “clearly contradicts recent commitments by the US administration to lift the sanctions as soon as a peace agreement is signed” with the southern rebels.

The government and the rebel Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA), which is fighting for self-determination in the mainly animist and Christian south, have pledged to reach an agreement by the close of the year to end their 20-year civil war, he said.

“Sudan is innocent of the US accusations of sponsoring terrorism and posing a threat to the US interests,” he added, blaming the renewal on “domestic US politics, with the presidential elections in sight.”

The White House said in a statement Wednesday that the renewal was “because the actions and policies of the government of Sudan continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

While Sudan has been on a US list of countries accused of supporting international terror since 1993, Washington first placed an economic embargo against Khartoum in November 1997 under the National Emergencies Act.